Whether as mayor of Austin or a City Council member in Roseville, Tom Kough never shied away from political controversy.
Kough, an international diving champion, who died Sunday in his Roseville home at age 76, was the mayor of Austin in 1985, when he and fellow union members walked off their jobs at the Hormel meatpacking plant.
He never crossed the picket line established by the Local P-9 of the United Food and Commercial Worker union. He was eventually fired because of his support for the strike, but other union members complained that he had joined company officials in asking Gov. Rudy Perpich to send in the National Guard to maintain order when Hormel sought to break the bitter strike by reopening the plant with replacement workers.
"He was in a position where he couldn't do anything else," said John (Skinny) Weis, a P-9 leader during the strike said later. "He was very courageous during the strike," agreed Gloria Weis, Skinny's wife. "He had to wear two hats."
Kough (pronounced Cue) moved to the Twin Cities in 1986, and quickly became engaged in the life of his new community, Roseville.
In 2001, he was elected to the Roseville City Council, and was reelected in 2005.
"He was a delight to work with, because it was never personal with Tom," said Roseville Mayor Craig Klausing. "Even if the discussion became heated," he engaged members as respected friends after the meeting.
As Roseville struggled with how to develop the Twin Lakes area of the city, Kough opposed subsidies for another big-box store development in Roseville.
"He was just a really strong voice for the people that he represented," said Roseville City Councilwoman, Amy Ihlan, adding that the Twin Lakes project is now expected to be a corporate campus. "He really cared about their cares and concerns, and tried to put them into action when he could."
Kough, a star athlete at Austin High School, continued to win international diving contests well past age 70.
He was advised not to compete after his cancer was diagnosed in April, but went ahead, winning two gold medals at the Senior Olympics in Colorado Springs last summer. In 1998, he won the world platform diving championship in the 60- to 70-year-old class.
In addition to his wife, Carol, he is survived by his daughter, MaryJo Wolf of Rochester; sons, Steven Wermager and Scott Wermager, both of Austin, and Allen Wermager of Houlton, Wis.; sisters, Ruth Madden of Rochester, and Mary Lou Hainer of Palm Springs, Calif.; 16 grandchildren; 21 great grandchildren, and one great-great granddaughter.
A memorial gathering will be held from noon to 4 p.m., Sunday with a prayer service at 3:30 p.m., at the Guidant John Rose MN OVAL, 2660 Civic Center Drive, Roseville.
